Tag: UK
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Gay Films Selected For BFI London Film Festival
After the success of last year’s LFF, with the UK premieres of British breakout success WEEKEND, Tribeca winner SHE MONKEYS and Cannes Queer Palme winner, BEAUTY, Peccadillo Pictures are proud to announce that we have two films officially selected for this year’s BFI London Film Festival, which takes place from the 10th – 21st October.
These include the stunning KEEP THE LIGHTS ON from acclaimed director Ira Sachs (Forty Shades of Blue) and this year’s official Cannes Un Certain Regard entry, OUR CHILDREN starring A PROPHET’s Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, with a blistering performance from Emilie Dequenne (Rosetta), who took home the Un Certain Regard Best Actress prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Both films will have theatrical releases in 2012 and 2013, respectively.
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THEATRE: One Man 35 Characters
The MAC and award-winning theatre company Prime Cut Productions are preparing to tell the fascinating and compelling real-life story of Charlotte Von Mahlsdorf in I Am My Own Wife, the newest theatre co-production at the MAC.
(more…)
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THEATRE REVIEW | Drag Divas
I’m calling for a show like Drag Divas to be a nightly event in our fair capital city of London.
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Channel 5 Broadcast The Gay Slayer
The horrific murders of 5 gay men in London in 1993 rocked the homosexual community as Colin Ireland fulfilled a sick New Year’s resolution.
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The Gay Slayer On Channel 5
This Tuesday (21st August) Channel 5 will be broadcasting a documentary on Colin Ireland, the man who murdered 5 gay men in 1993.
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X Factor Final To Broadcast From Manchester
The X Factor Live Final 2012 will take place in Manchester at Manchester Central. It’s the first time in the show’s history that the Final has moved out of London and it is set to be one of the most thrilling entertainment events of the year.
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INTERVIEW | Andrew Doyle
Andrew Doyle is a brutally funny openly gay comedian whose debut solo stand-up show “A Crash Course in Depravity” elicited critical acclaim and five star reviews at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe.
The show was intelligent and razor sharp and covered subjects as diverse as the Marquis de Sade, the Pope, Grindr and Bonnie Langford. It was described as feeling like the most bizarre and intense Gaydar meet you can possibly have and part of the fun was guessing which audience members were going to leave in a disgruntled huff. In spite of this Doyle is a charming and engaging performer (and is also boyishly good looking) who could never be accused of smuttiness for the sake of a cheap laugh. The show also carried a warning of full frontal nudity. What’s not to like? He’s back again this year and we’re looking forward to what he has to unleash for us.
So, Andrew, this year’s show is called “Whatever it Takes”. Can you tell us a bit more about the new show?
It’s about a humiliating near-death experience I had in Suffolk. I was walking by the coast and found myself caught in wet mud. I sank to my waist and was unable to move. The tide was coming in and there wasn’t a coastguard in sight. You’ll have to come along to my show to find out whether I survived or not.
I hate to mention it but can we talk about the Mickey Mouse incident? How was it for you and are there going to be any more puppet sex shows for us this year? Maybe Orville might be free?
I deny everything.
You asked audience members about their own acts of depravity last year and you asked me to leave the room for being too depraved for words (it involved a Roman Catholic priest). Were there any memorable depraved acts which were shared?
Plenty. One woman told me about a threesome in a skip. Another guy told me about his fetish for uncooked ham. It always surprised me doing that show how open people would be with their experiences. I suppose if you buy a ticket for a show with “depravity” in the title you’re up for anything. (That said, some were offended by the content. The title was fairly self-explanatory, as was the warning at the box office, but there will always be some idiots who just wander in because they like the pretty colours on the poster.)
Is there a danger of being an openly gay comedian that people expect an old style camp show a la Duncan Norvelle or Larry Grayson or have things moved on for the stand up comedian?
Things haven’t moved on all that much. The most popular gay comedians are still the camp types who appear sexless (although, believe me, they’re far from it). There are always some in the audience who are uncomfortable with the idea of a gay comic even talking about it. One audience member recently posted online that because I mentioned being gay it was “tired”. Of course, straight comedians never mention their sexuality, so she’s clearly got a point.
Lots of our readers are about to implode through Olympic overkill and even the men’s diving is getting dull due to lack of the right camera angles. Can you suggest a few of this year’s Fringe acts that might appeal to disaffected gay men and drag us away from the tedium and tempt us to venture to Edinburgh?
I have no interest whatsoever in competitive sports, so I understand where you are coming from. In fact, I mentioned my complete indifference to the Olympics on stage last night and got some very cold looks from the predominately laddish audience. In terms of shows to tempt you, there’s a few that immediately spring to mind. The Life and Sort of Death of Eric Argyle is a brilliant new play by Ross Dungan and is my favourite show of the fringe so far. Jo Caulfield is always worth seeing; she’s one of the best joke writers around. James Acaster is inherently hilarious. David Mills is a gay San Franciscan comic with impeccable timing and razor-sharp material. The brilliant Scott Agnew is doing a show this year about his various experiences in gay saunas over the years. Finally, I’d go for Susan Calman’s show about her civil partnership. I haven’t seen it yet, but Susan’s a superb stand-up.
What’s your favourite fruit?
Passion fruit, star fruit, grapefruit. Any fruit that has the word “fruit” in its name, really. It sounds so wonderfully insecure about its own identity.
Finally, you commented on Twitter that the start of the Olympic opening ceremony was like the longest Hovis ad ever. What did you think of the show?
I thought it was jingoistic nonsense. Nationalism makes no sense to me. The idea of being proud of something as arbitrary as your birthplace strikes me as ridiculous. All those millions spent, and for what? As a prelude to some people running about and playing various games with balls and sticks. They don’t do this kind of thing for backgammon, do they?
Andrew is appearing at Just the Tonic at the Caves till the 26th of August
http://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/comedy/andrew-doyle-whatever-it-takes?day=05-08-2012&performance=88%3A2463
Read more about Andrew at:
http://www.andrewdoyle.co.uk/
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Olympic Stars Enter Charts After Closing Ceremony
After a rousing night of music at the Closing Ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics many of the stars are enjoying placement in the UK’s iTunes chart.
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LGBT Stars And Allies Help Close The Olympics
In a show to end all shows the London 2012 Olympics came to a triumphant conclusion yesterday at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, London.
The televised event was seen by an estimated 1 billion people across the globe and a crowd of over 80,000 in the stadium.
In an extraordinary show of British talent the Closing Ceremony hosted some of the finest talents of the UK music and fashion scenes both past and present as the cast of thousands was joined by George Michael, The Spice Girls, Annie Lennox, Jessie J, Pet Shop Boys, and controversially Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss, causing an immediate Twitter backlash.
The Daily Mail reported that Piers Morgan wrote on twitter: ‘I suspect Kate Moss might fail her drugs test later’, in reference to her alleged drug abuse and Jojo Mayes wrote: ‘Naomi Campbell: gold medal in phone throwing’, while Charles Arthur wrote: ‘Kate Moss! Who represents the Olympic ideals of not doing drugs, or smoking, and achieving lots. Work with me here.’
Campbell and Moss weren’t the only stars to feel the wrath of the Twitter audience as thousands of users used the service to Tweet their frustrations of Emeli Sandé’s double appearance in the show.
The show had moments of sheer joy, eccentricity and contemplativeness, in what turned out to be a show to rival that of the Opening Ceremony in July at the beginning of the Olympic games.
George Michael wowed the audience with a two song set of arguably one of his greatest hits ‘Freedom’, and his forthcoming single ‘White Light.‘ He looked trim and healthy wearing an all black ensemble complete with trademark sunglasses and leather jacket.
Annie Lennox a long time campaigner for LGBT rights sang in great voice for her moment in the spotlight. The singer sang her hit ‘Little Bird’ whilst surrounded by pirates and was brought on to the stage in a giant skeletal ship.
However it was the reformation of The Spice Girls that really lifted proceedings, producing an incredible buzz on social networks across the globe. As five brightly lit London taxis parked centre stage, the crowd roared almost uncontrollably as Ginger, Scary, Sporty, Baby and Posh alighted to sing two of their biggest hits: ‘Wannabe’ and ‘Spice Up Your Life’. Their appearance at the show set a new record of 116,000 Tweets per minute on Twitter. Even London Mayor Boris Johnston couldn’t resist a boogie to the sounds of 90’s ‘Girl Power’.
Jessie J was featured heavily in the proceedings having sung her own hit ‘Price Tag’ and then joining Brian May on the main-stage to sing the iconic ‘We Will Rock You’. A poignant moment in the show however was when the 80,000 strong crowd echoed Freddie Mercury in a video installment in the middle of the stage.
The Pet Shop Boys also enjoyed their moment in the spotlight, appearing in orange chariots, singing ‘West End Girls’.
The closing ceremonies brought an end to a record breaking games for Team GB having secured 29 Gold medals, 17 Silver and 19 Bronze to make a total of 65. Team GB came 3rd in the Olympic leader-board, with China in second place and the USA in poll position.